manual_slop/conductor/directives/master_branch_default/v1.md

This repo uses master as the default branch — never assume main exists

What it says

This repository uses master as the default branch name, NOT main. Every git fetch, every new-branch base, every PR/MR target, every clone URL must reference origin/master. Do NOT assume main exists.

Why

The repo was initialized with master as its primary branch and has never renamed it to main. Scripts that default to main (e.g., git checkout main, git push origin main, GitHub Actions workflows that reference refs/heads/main) will silently fail or push to a non-existent ref. The user's explicit choice is to keep master because renaming the default branch across all CI configs and remote mirrors is more cost than benefit.

Required patterns

• git fetch origin master (not main)
• git switch -c tier2/<track-name> origin/master (base new branches off origin/master)
• git push origin master (only the user pushes, but if the agent must reference the target, it's master)
• CI / pre-push scripts: target master, not main
• Documentation: when citing the default branch, write master

Tier 2 autonomous context

In Tier 2 autonomous mode (per conductor/tier2/commands/tier-2-auto-execute.md:35-36), the protocol opens with:

1. git fetch origin master
2. git switch -c tier2/<track-name> origin/master

NOT git checkout (banned) and NOT origin/main.